WASHINGTON -
Mayors from cities across the country were on Capitol Hill Wednesday, lending their voices to the cry for more gun control.
The group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, started back in 2006 with just 15 members. It now has 825, and more than a million supporters.
The President's gun control proposal announced Wednesday feels like a personal victory to many members.
"Today, the President and Vice President heard our rallying cry," said John Feinblatt, Policy Advisor to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The President's proposals contained all the things the group had been lobbying for: standardized background checks, a gun trafficking statute, plus limitations on assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
"The President has had enough, the mayors have had enough, the American people have had enough," said Golden Colorado Mayor Marjorie Sloan. "Now it's time for Congress to do its part."
It is a sentiment echoed by Stephen Barton, who survived the theatre shooting in Aurora, Colo.
"I was in the middle of a cross country bike ride, and I was shot because I stopped to go to the movies," Barton said.
Barton was injured by more than two dozen pieces of buckshot from a shotgun in the torso, face and neck during the shooting which claimed 12 lives and left 58 wounded.
"I was shot, and I remember hearing the sound of the assault rifle, more than one time every second, a total slaughter," said Barton. "Thankfully I was able to escape, and so were my friends."
Barton said the incident has given him more than just nerve damage. It has inspired him to be a vocal and be involved in gun control.
"I'm a survivor of gun violence, but ever since that day, I devoted myself to be an advocate against gun violence, Barton said.
